1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foldable portable cellular phone, and more particularly, to a foldable portable cellular phone configured so as to be able to receive a telephone call even while the foldable portable cellular phone is folded.
The present application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-241715 filed on Aug. 9, 2000, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A foldable portable cellular phone has come into widespread use (the foldable portable cellular phone hereinafter may be simply referred to as a “portable cellular phone”). FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B are schematic perspective views of an appearance of a conventional foldable portable cellular phone. As shown in FIG. 11A, the conventional portable cellular phone is so constructed that its main body 51 has a speech function and is integrally connected to a lid body 52 through a hinge 53. The lid body 52 can be rotated around the hinge 53 relative to the main body 51. While a telephone call is in progress, as shown in FIG. 11A, the lid body 52 is opened relative to the main body 51 and, while the telephone call is not in progress, as shown in FIG. 11B, the lid body 52 is folded.
The main body 51 is provided with a transmitting and receiving antenna 54 configured so as to be freely expandable and contractible, a receiver 55, a display 56, and an information inputting key 57. The lid body 52 is provided with a transmitter 58. The conventional foldable portable cellular phone having such configurations as above, can be reduced in size by folding the lid body 52 while the telephone call is not in progress. Therefore the portable cellular phone can be easily put in a pocket, bag, or a like and can provide portability to a user.
One example of such the foldable portable cellular phone as described above is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-69158. The disclosed portable cellular phone is configured so that, while the portable cellular phone is being folded, howling that occurs, possibly due to an approach between transmitter and receiver, can be prevented, and so that operation of the portable cellular phone is halted to reduce current consumption. Generally, the foldable portable cellular phone is configured so that a state of being able to receive a call is maintained even while the portable cellular phone is being folded unless power is turned OFF. However, in the above disclosed portable cellular phone, its operation is halted while the portable cellular phone is being folded, which causes half its use value to be lost.
Therefore, generally, in the foldable portable cellular phone, since, while the portable cellular phone is being folded, an incoming sound rings at a time of receipt of a call, even if the portable cellular phone is being put in the pocket, bag, or the like so long as the power is ON, a user can come to know that the portable cellular phone has received a telephone call. This can provide convenience to the user.
However, the conventional foldable portable cellular phone has problems in that, in a state in which contents displayed on a screen of the portable cellular phone can not be seen, it is difficult for the user to identify calling parties that have been stored in a history of unanswered received calls. In the conventional foldable portable cellular phone, as described above, since the state of being able to receive a call is maintained even while the portable cellular phone is being folded unless the power is turned OFF, even when the portable cellular phone is put in the pocket, bag, or the like, the phone rings at the time of the receipt of the call, thus informing the user of the receipt of the telephone call from someone. However, since the user cannot see contents displayed on the screen of the portable cellular phone while the portable cellular phone is folded, the user can not identify the calling parties, that is, the parties who placed the unanswered telephone calls. Therefore, to identify the calling party, the user has to take out the portable cellular phone from the pocket, bag, or the like whenever the portable cellular phone receives the call and also has to open the lid body to view the contents displayed on the screen of the portable cellular phone, which causes handling of the portable cellular phone to be complicated.
Furthermore, in a case of users with visual impairments, even while the lid body of the foldable cellular phone is opened, they can not read the displayed contents. This is actually the same as the above case in which the displayed contents cannot be seen because the portable cellular phone is folded, thus making it difficult for such users to identify the calling parties. Accordingly, emergence of a foldable portable cellular phone is expected which enables the user to easily identify received calls stored in a history of received calls that remain unresponded to, even while the user cannot view contents displayed on the screen of the portable cellular phone.